The 10th Eastern Province Inter-school Debate (EPID) tournament was held on May 26, and ran over the weekend. Students were challenged in five rounds of debate, culminating in a semi-final round and a final round. There were two impromptu rounds where students were given the topic on spot and only 30 minutes to prepare.
Participating high school teams were from ISG Dammam, Al Forsan International Schools, Dhahran Ahliyya Girls Schools and Rowad Al Khaleej International Schools.
This year also marked the initiation of debate contests for Juniors and had participants from ASD, ISG Dammam and Al Forsan Schools.
The EPID 2023 ever rolling trophy was won by ASD Team 3 delegates. Second and third places were won by Rowad Al Khaleej Team 1 and Team 2 respectively. Dhahran Ahliyya Schools acquired Honorable Mention with 4 th place.
In the Eastern Province Inter-School Debate Tournament, delegates learn how to examine the pros and the cons of issues, and in the process learn how to ‘fight with finesse’ (which is the theme of EPID) and strengthen their skills in the areas of interpersonal skills, leadership, team building, group problem solving, facing points of information and dynamic oral presentation. ISG students are exposed to peers from other schools that prepare them to be better individuals through healthy competition and self -reflection.
Information on propositions, rules and regulations and team information is shared by the EPID team with participating schools a month in advance. There are virtual meetings and clarification rounds every two weeks before the final contest.
The Eastern Province Inter-school Debate (EPID) tournament was initiated in 2012 by ASD (formerly DHS) Debate Club under Prof. Shaila Koya’s sponsorship to support a project for IB students with a set of debate rules, customized conventions and tips and tricks for good debating with British Parliamentary procedures.
Since then, EPID gained popularity with 5-7 schools in the Eastern Province participating each year, thus rendering opportunities for students to research, make claims, find evidence and statistics on news-breaking, controversial topics and current events.
Except for years during the pandemic, EPID was conducted annually and ISG Dhahran has been the winner of the Ever-Rolling trophy since 2012. The contest is invariably judged by Toastmaster international judges from the Eastern province.
ISG would like to thank Prof. Shaila Koya for her dedication to the EPID all these years, and also thank Dr Linda Amin, former Principal at Bayan Garden School, Dr
Anna Marie Amudi, former English supervisor, Dhahran Ahliyya School, Lamees Al
Ali, member of the ISG Board of Trustees, and Toastmasters DTM Koya, DTM Satish Kumar, DTM Uzair Iqbal and ASD alumnus Faisal Ahmad for participating as judges in the tournament.